Family stories and research stories that tell the tale of my personal research. If you have a similar family line or want to know more. Please contact me!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

"Coffin Maker" in New England

Mom and I agreed that Kenelm would have been a dandy name to
keep in the family. After all, neither
one of us ever knew a Kenelm while we were growing up and before we saw the
name on a family tree, we had never heard of the name. Kenelm’s older brother was famous for being
the third governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and arriving on the
Mayflower in 1620 and beings the third signer of the Mayflower Compact. Kenelm to leave England for the New World
until and held the dubious title to those of us in the modern world as coffin
maker.

Kenelm was the third son of Edward Winslow and his wife
Magdalene Ollyver. He was born in
Droitwich, Worcester, England on 29 Apr 1599 as the fourth of eight
children. Both of his parents were dead
by 1620 and of the eight children in his family, two daughters died very young,
a sister and brother remained in England and brothers Edward, John, Kenelm and
Josiah lived out their lives in the America. Edward lived in Plymouth, John
settled in Boston, Josiah in Marshfield and Kenelm became one of the founders
of Assonet, MA or Freetown, MA as it is known today. There must not have been much left for the
brothers in England and the opportunities in the New World must have been irresistible. We learn in history that many of the earliest
immigrants came to America in search of religious freedom. I’m sure that this was a main component for
most, but after those first few colonies were established, I’m sure word got
back about the opportunity for land and so called riches that were available
for any willing to take the risk.
England is a small island with a generation of sons looking for these
new opportunities. By the time, Kenelm
and his brother Josiah arrived in 1629, there was already a thriving English
community on American soil.

I’m sure that Kenelm probably enjoyed his status as being
the brother of an important man in the colony.
He probably had some responsibilities that arose from his brother’s
position. I know that Kenelm was a
surveyor of highways for a time and was fined for neglecting his job. His name also appears on a few legal matters
where he didn’t come out the winner. One
of the more interesting things that I read about Kenelm that he was committed
to prison for “uttering opprobrious words against the church at Marshfield,
saying that they were all liars.” Kenelm
ended up in jail and probably offended most of the town of Marshifield…which
might explain why he moved to Assonet, MA.

I found it rather fascinating to see Kenelm Winslow labeled
as a coffin maker. As it turns out, it
meant that he was an excellent carpenter.
In fact, he was probably one of the first carpenters that had been
trained in England to bring his craft to the America and train other craftsman
here. There is an interesting article
online on at http://www.antiquesandfineart.com/articles/article.cfm?request=835
that talks about Kenelm Winslow. There
is supposedly some furniture that was made by Kenelm Winslow in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art but as I read it, there is no proof that Kenelm was
the actual carpenter.

Kenelm married in Jun 1634 to a widow, Eleanor Newton
Adams. He and his wife had three sons
and a daughter who all lived to adulthood.
Kenelm, himself lived to be 73 years old and died on 13 Sep 1672 while
on a visit to Salem, Essex Co., MA. His
wife died in 1681 in Marshfield, MA. So…thanks
to the immigration of my 9th great grandparents and their four
children, there are many Winslows in America who can trace their lineage back
to a coffin maker in New England.